I’ve recently been in touch with some of the writers from the 2017-18 group; It’s exciting to hear what some of them are up to with plays that they started on the course.
RACHEL BETTS has received Arts Council funding of £10k to take her first play As If You Are Infinite into R&D. The project is supported by Pegasus Theatre (where she has been appointed Associate Artist), seed funding from Arts Depot as part of their Artist Residency Scheme. David Harradine from Fevered Sleep will be offering artistic support and mentorship to the bid and project. R&D for As If You Are Infinite at Arts Depot starts from 11th -15th February,  followed by an intergenerational workshop week at Pegasus, 18th -22nd February. There will be a final week of R&D from 8th -12th April with a final sharing to programmers/producers on the 12th.
Antibodies by JANET BOLAM will receive a staged reading at St Aldate’s Tavern on Thursday February 28that 7pm with a professional cast directed by Lucy Richardson.
Hashtag Penetration by CAROLYN LLOYD-DAVIES will have a rehearsed reading at ALRA in Trinity Road, Wandsworth on April 29th; Carolyn is currently talking to several London venues about the play. David Trevaskis will direct.
Clarissa by LEKHA MORRISON was performed at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham, The New Diorama in London and the Buxton Fringe, in June and July 2018. Her short play, The Date, will be on at the Southwark Playhouse on February 24th as part of an evening of short plays.
Finally, MARGARET CONWAY directed her first play, Rights, a play based on the first Civil Rights March in Dungannon on 24th August 1968. This is a play that the whole group grew to love and I know that everyone will join me in congratulating Margaret for both producing it and directing it in her home town. Needless to say, it was extremely well received in Dungannon – despite its serious theme and historical accuracy, it is also one of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read.
John Retallack
22.01.19